Bullets, bombs, bibles and BushEven as the sleek techno-wizardry of "Shock and Awe" gives way to the old-fashioned slog of "Blood and Guts" on the battlefields of Iraq, the Bush Regime's postwar plans continue apace. It's now clear that the Bushists aim to turn Iraq into an American protectorate -- a supine dependency like Guam, Puerto Rico or Britain -- by controlling every aspect of life in the conquered land.

The fate of empire buildersFirst comes a massive aerial attack, destroying cities, killing men, women and children, uprooting trees and ancient sites. Cities shake. Houses are destroyed, leaving behind huge craters where innocent children were playing a few hours ago. Then comes a ground assault launched by an army equipped with high-tech weapons and supported by an air force that has no rival. But even before all of this, there is a media blitz of tyranny that promises shock and awe, threatens annihilation and demands surrender.

Powell rules out UN lead role in IraqColin Powell yesterday swept aside demands from European leaders for United Nations primacy in Iraq's post-war settlement, insisting that Britain and America had earned the right to set policy by sacrificing blood.

China and Russia eye new checks on US powerHaving failed to block war in Iraq, China and Russia are retooling strategies to attenuate US dominance and ensure that Washington cannot override their interests with impunity in the future, experts say.

Rumsfeld's WarAmerican generals are not political innocents, though they have to act as if they were. When Lieutenant General William Wallace, the commander of American ground forces in Iraq, ruefully told journalists last Thursday that "the enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd war-gamed against" and predicted a much longer war, he was launching a (deniable) cruise missile straight at the US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld. Everybody in Washington knows that it was Rumsfeld who ignored professional military advice and insisted on "War Lite" in Iraq.

Reports of airport assault prematureRobert Fisk: So where are the Americans? I prowled the empty departure lounges, mooched through the abandoned customs department, chatted to the seven armed militia guards, met the airport director and stood beside the runways where two dust-covered Iraqi Airways passenger jets -- an old 727 and an even more elderly Antonov -- stood forlornly on the runway not far from an equally decrepit military helicopter.And all I could hear was the distant whisper of high-flying jets and the chatter of the flocks of birds which have nested near the airport car park on this, the first day of real summer in Baghdad.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains
copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically
authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in
our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond
'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

USCrusade.com is another 100% non-profit websiteIncome from book sales assists in maintaining this service. UScrusade.com personnel
are volunteers who are never paid for services rendered.